


hard lockdown

by syazzypanda



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: M/M, mentions of everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:54:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25071955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syazzypanda/pseuds/syazzypanda
Summary: An alternate telling of S4;E6 - 'Thursday'Or, the AU where Charlie is stuck with the football players in the locker room during the lockdown.
Relationships: Alex Standall & Tony Padilla, Charlie St. George/Alex Standall, Tyler Down & Alex Standall
Comments: 19
Kudos: 110





	hard lockdown

**Author's Note:**

> So... I'm nervous about this one cause it started off as a writing experiment. I hope it managed to come across as coherent. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy reading this :) It was hard, but I did enjoy writing it.

_‘May I have your attention please, we are currently moving into a lockdown situation. Code red. This is a hard lockdown.’_

“What the hell?” Alex mumbled, looking between Tyler and Tony. Tyler’s face was ashen, hands tightly balled up on the table. Tony, all things considering, still looked calm.

_‘Staff, please initiate lockdown procedures immediately.’_

“Code red,” Tyler breathed, sliding a hand to his left to grasp onto Alex’s elbow. His grip was tight, fearful. “T-That’s... active shooter.”

“I’m sure it’s just a drill, Ty. It’s okay,” Alex replied despite the tightening in his chest and the churning in his gut. Something wasn’t right. 

* * *

‘ _Students, please do not panic and listen closely to the instructions of your teachers.’_

“Why can’t we do this bullshit when I have English?” Luke grumbled as Coach Kerba ushered them into the locker rooms. 

“You didn’t finish your Percy Jackson fanfiction this time?”

“Oh screw you, Diego.”

“Guys,” Charlie set a hand on each of their backs and gave them a firm push, “To the back, in the showers. Go.” 

* * *

‘ _Seek immediate shelter in the nearest classroom. I repeat, this is a code red. Hard lockdown.’_

Tony had managed to herd his friends into the computer room when they heard the first gunshots. They scrambled under the table, Tyler still clutching onto Alex as if his life depended on it. In turn, Alex’s eyes were wide, glassy. It almost seemed as if he wasn’t looking at anything in particular, as if he wasn’t aware of Tyler’s white-knuckled grip on him. 

It almost seemed as if he wasn’t breathing. 

It was this realisation that made Tony scoot closer to them, peering into Alex’s face and hearing alarm bells go off in his head at the blank look in his eyes. “Alex?”

Another round of shots echoed in the hallway, and Alex let out a choked, sputtering gasp. “I can’t breathe.”

* * *

Charlie tried to keep his voice soft despite the panic fluttering in his chest. “Brandon, it’s okay. Here, give me your hand.” 

Diego knelt in front of them, bat in hand, “Look around us. No windows, cement walls. Nothing can get in here.” He settled the bat in front of him, expression grave, “And if they do, we take care of it.”

While Charlie definitely agreed with the sentiment, he couldn’t really wrap his head around Diego’s logic of using the bat for protection against an armed shooter. He’s not going to be the one who brought it up though. Not now. His hands still hovered between them, palms up, “Diego’s right. We’ll protect each other.”

Brandon looked on the verge of passing out but finally clasped onto Charlie’s hands as if they were a life-line. 

Charlie glanced over at Justin on his other side, cross-legged and furiously typing into his phone. His face was pale.

* * *

_**The Scooby Gang** _

_**Justin:** Everyone? _

_**Jess:** store room downstairs by ho office _

_**Zach:** classroom w/ Winston. Anyone w/ u Jess? _

_**Jess:** no I’m alone _

_**Justin:** Be safe Jess. I’m with the football team in the locker room. _

_**Jess:** Charlie? _

_**Justin:** With me. _

_**Justin:** Clay? _

_**Justin:** Tony? _

_**Zach:** Alex?? Tyler?? _

_**Justin:** shit _

* * *

Charlie knew something was wrong by the look on Justin’s face as he stared at his phone. He squeezed onto Brandon’s trembling hands and whispered over his shoulder, “Is everyone okay?”

Justin looked up, and the sheer terror in his eyes was enough to make Charlie go cold all over, “Clay, Tony, Tyler and Alex haven’t responded.” 

_Alex_

Gunshots erupted from somewhere in the school and Charlie was glad that Brandon’s grip on his hands were tight enough to root him to the present without spiralling. 

* * *

Tony grasped onto Alex’s hand, squeezing it tight, “Alex… hey man, you gotta stay with me, alright?” He caught Tyler’s eye and motioned with his head towards Alex’s other hand. Tyler nodded in understanding and grabbed on to it.

“Just breathe. Both of you.” Tony’s voice was clear. He tried to inject as much calm into it as possible, all things considering, it was a pretty good attempt.

Alex's reply came out somewhat as a breathless snarl. “I fucking can’t.” 

Tyler let out a strangled sob, muffled into his upper arm. “Yes, you c-can. Focus on us. On our h-hands.” 

And Alex did. His heart thundered against his ribcage, almost as if it was trying to crack through the bone and cartilage to suicide itself onto the floor. His throat felt tight and dry and raw all at the same time and it was just so damn hard to breath. But he also felt Tony and Tyler on either side of him, felt the solid weight of their hand in his. Tyler’s grip in particular was crushing, his breath coming out in heavy exhales that he seemed to be trying to muffle by sealing his lips shut into a thin line. 

Sensation came back in pieces; blooming upwards from his hands to his shoulders and throat, down his spine and to the tips of his toes. It was easier to breathe, just barely.

_“Alex?! Alex where are you?”_

“D-Dad?”

* * *

_**The Scooby Gang** _

_**Ani:** Guys what’s happening is everyone alright? _

_**Justin:** has anyone seen Clay???? _

* * *

“Coach, we have to fucking do something!” 

“Sit down and keep quiet, Diego.” Kerba’s expression was grim. Charlie realised with a jolt that their coach was probably just as terrified as they were but had to keep his cool for all their sakes. He didn’t envy his position. As in stands, Charlie didn’t know what sort of expression he was projecting to the team right now as a cascade of different feelings thundered through him; terror and worry mixing into a powerful concoction that made his limbs tense like a coiled spring. 

Whatever spring holding Diego in place was clearly coming undone. The other boy seemed downright feral, fearless. “I don’t want to sit here like a coward while people out there are getting hurt.”

“What are you going to do, son?” Kerba asked, his harsh tone belying the softness of his voice. 

Another round of bullets, and Brandon was now practically moulded into Charlie’s side. Charlie rested his hand on Brandon’s back, tracing soothing circles to calm him down. 

“Diego for fuck’s sake just sit down.” That was Justin, phone still in hand. “You’re gonna go rearing out there with a bat? You’re gonna swing at the bullets? Don’t be stupid.”

Diego’s entire body snapped in Justin’s direction, the bat swinging threateningly, “I take offense at being called stupid by a cowardly, recovering addict who still gets shit-faced at parties!”

For a moment it seemed as if Justin was going to lunge at Diego--and he did, but Kerba had thrown a hand in front of him. “That’s enough!” Kerba snapped, for the first time seeming to lose his cool. “Set an example, both of you.”

“Please guys,” Charlie hoped his voice didn’t come out as shaky and nervous as he felt, “Diego, sit down.”

“What use are we if we’re too scared to do anything?”

Charlie looked his friend in the eye, so he saw the familiar flash of terror reflecting back at him, “What use are we dead?”

* * *

_**The Scooby Gang** _

_**Tyler:** library w Alex and Tony _

_**Zach:** oh thank god _

_**Tyler:** Alex hearing his dad we dk what to do _

_**Justin:** what the fuck _

* * *

Alex had scrambled out from under the table so Tony had to act fast before he stepped out of the room. He didn’t want to do it, and if he had more time he probably wouldn’t have done it, but given the options the best thing he could think of was tackling Alex right off his feet.

That was how they ended up sprawled on the ground, Tony bracing himself over Alex to hold him down as gently as he could without hurting his friend. Alex wasn’t doing him any favours; the other boy was trashing, his voice confused and teary, “T-Tony please, can’t you hear him?”

“Alex there’s no one outside,” Tony replied, resting a hand on his shoulder with just enough pressure to keep him low to the ground. 

Tyler had given up trying to hold back his tears and was now quietly sobbing beside them. He was curled up on the ground facing Alex, phone in hand, “P-Please, your d-dad isn’t there.”

* * *

_**The Scooby Gang** _

_**Justin:** charlie said it’s his tbi_

_**Justin:** this is Charlie _

_**Justin:** it’s the stress triggering a relapse u need to keep him safe please keep him safe _

* * *

“It’s y-your TBI.” Tyler spluttered, dropping his phone. He grasped onto Alex’s hand again, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles. “The stress is making you hear t-things.”

Tony stared between them, unsure. Tyler pressed on, swallowing back a heavy sob, “There’s no one there.”

* * *

As quickly and unexpectedly as it had started, it was over.

_‘This lockdown is all clear. I repeat, this lockdown is all clear.’_

Coach Kerba made them stay back in the showers and only gave them the green light to leave after he’s checked the corridor outside. The football team poured out into the corridor as if emerging from a bunker--which to be fair, they did--slowly, looking around them to take in a world that might have changed while they had been in shelter. 

It only took them a second to recalibrate. Charlie was aware that Justin had disappeared. Diego had taken Brandon by the arm and away from Charlie, and Charlie could see the two of them talking in low voices just off to his right. Diego’s demeanour had subsided to one of comfort, the spring inside of him having relaxed enough to extend a helping hand to the other boy. 

That was when Charlie’s own spring--coiled tight, under extreme pressure--snapped.

He must have started running, maybe, and he might have knocked over some people in his rush, possibly. He weaved his way through the swarm of students hesitantly exiting classrooms and peering cautiously around corners. He could feel his pulse in his throat, the blood pounding in his ears. 

The library. He had to get to the library.

* * *

Tony pressed his thumbs against Alex’s shoulder blades, applying the pressure a few times in a circular motion before releasing him, “Sorry about that, Alex. I... didn’t know what else to do.”

“It’s okay,” Alex rolled over onto his back and pushed himself up into a sitting position. His eyes were clear again. He looked towards Tyler who had picked up his bag and held out Alex’s own bag to him. Alex accepted it, “How did you know, like, what it was?”

Tyler fidgeted with the strap of his bag, colour finally coming back to his face. “It wasn’t me. It was Charlie.”

* * *

Charlie rounded the corner to a scene that took a few seconds for him to comprehend: Clay Jensen was strapped onto a stretcher and being rolled out of school escorted by police. 

Did he see what was happening? Yes. Did he understand it? No.

The crowd around Clay cleared, and for the first time Charlie had a clear view across the hall and for a moment (one that he would feel terribly guilty about later, but that’s a story _for later_ ) all thoughts of Clay vanished from his mind. 

Standing 30 feet across from him were three familiar figures. Charlie was aware of Tyler’s lanky frame, Tony’s dyed hair, but his vision narrowed in on Alex. Alex and his rare smiles and clear eyes that reminded him of spring days and free falls, and those eyes were moving away from Clay and looking directly at him.

Charlie wondered if he looked as winded as he felt, because _holy shit it felt as if he had the air swept right out of his lungs_ , but he ran to close the gap between them. 

His body acted before his brain caught up to him, but when it did he had already folded his arms around Alex and _oh my god oh my god_ he couldn’t see Alex’s face but he could sense the confusion from the stillness of his body. He was about to pull away, a fumbling excuse at the tip of his tongue when he felt Alex exhale, his body softening against Charlie’s and arms wrapping around his back and _oh my god._

_It’s happening._

There was a very obvious clearing of a throat and they pulled apart--with more than a little reluctance on Charlie’s part--to see Tony smiling at them. “Well, glad to see we’re all okay.”

Tyler shifted his weight from one leg to another, “Do you guys want to… get out of school?”

Tony shrugged, “Not gonna lie, I’m down.”

“Yeah,” Alex nodded, “I’ve had enough of this fucking place.”

Charlie still had his eyes on Alex and just barely managed to look away before Alex had turned back towards him. He thought of crushing fear and cement walls, and yeah, some fresh air and clear skies are definitely what he wanted right now. “Sure. Let’s get out of here.”

**Author's Note:**

> Several things:
> 
> 1\. I had to rewatch parts of the episode so much it gave me a headache lol  
> 2\. I typed out Justin's comment about swinging at bullets and was SO PROUD of myself for being ~witty~, then I watched the actual scene and he actually did say it welp  
> 3\. This is marked as completed, but I do have some ideas about their first kiss following this so if anyone would be interested in that just let me know :)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this!


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